Faced with chants of ‘You’ll never beat the Irish’ from ­travelling fans yards from his seat, Slaven Bilic smirked and waved.

The Croatia boss is the coolest of customers at the best of times and will not be losing too much sleep ahead of Sunday’s Euro 2012 clash with Ireland on the basis of what he witnessed here in Budapest.

He saw a Hungary side who are not going to the finals pick apart Giovanni Trapattoni’s men.

Only a string of saves from Shay Given and Richard Dunne’s stubbornness kept the visitors in a game they should have lost.

Stephen Hunt’s clearance off the line with six minutes to go ensured Ireland somehow left storm-hit Budapest with their ­reputation as a tough team to beat still intact – but it was seat of the pants stuff.

Trapattoni saluted his defenders afterwards, and Dunne and Sean St Ledger certainly weighed in with timely interventions against a side who have suffered just one defeat in the Hungarian capital in two years.

Not for the first time, the ease at which opponents sliced their way through Ireland was worrying.

It was a reality check ahead of the Euros.

An assured strike-force with their wits about them would have put this tie out of sight early on.

Ireland go into their first European Championship in 24 years on the back of a 14-game unbeaten run, which is just three shy of their all-time record.

And with Bilic losing key man Ivica Olic to injury on Monday and Italy – another of Ireland’s group opponents falling apart at the seams and now reeling after Andrea Barzagli’s injury – Trapattoni has some reason to smile.

After a 20-minute delay because of torrential rain, Trapattoni may have feared sending out his players on a pitch more suitable for ducks than footballers.

Damp squib: Trap's Ireland were second best in stormy Budapest (Image: Christopher Lee)

Given was withdrawn as a precaution at half-time and other key men such as Robbie Keane, Damien Duff, Kevin Doyle, Glenn Whelan and Keith Andrews were also hauled to shore without injury during the second half.

Ireland started well, with John O’Shea fizzing a header just over the bar from a Duff cross.

But their breaks behind enemy lines became more and more fleeting as the first half wore on and the quality of final ball was awful at times.

Keane did force a save from Adam Bogdan, but the LA Galaxy striker should have made more of the chance.

Whelan and Andrews struggled to get to grips with Hungary’s midfield and Balazs Dzsudzsak in ­particular was a menace, causing Stephen Ward no end of trouble raiding down the right and cutting inside.

The Wolves man was badly exposed on a number of occasions, although he did steal the ball to deny Adam Szalai a certain goal.

Caught for pace on more than one occasion, he was bailed out by Dunne who showed great awareness throughout, but it was Given who truly rescued Ireland.

In the space of two minutes he denied Peter Halmosi and pulled off an incredible finger-tip save to keep an Andrews deflection from going in. At the other end, Keane and Whelan combined only for Duff to skew his connection when charging into the box.

It was end to end stuff by now, although Hungary played with far more precision and conviction.

Ireland lived dangerously and were devoid of any attacking ideas with long balls forward relieving the by now constant pressure they were under.

Given’s parting gift before being replaced at the break was to keep out even more shots - another from Halmosi and a stunning save to deny Szalai after he capitalised on a Sean St Ledger slip.

The Aston Villa man’s failure to reappear for the start of the second half sparked initial panic, but FAI officials quickly confirmed the decision was purely precautionary after the knee injury he sustained during the stay in Malahide.

Predictably, there was no let up in Hungary’s relentless pursuit of an opener in the second half and Keiren Westwood - playing in his second consecutive international - made a Given-esque save to keep Szalai at bay.

Bogdan was a bystander for most of the night but did pull off a fine save to keep out half-time sub Jon Walters’ low drive, while Simon Cox was muscled out of it as he sought to steer home the loose ball at the back post.

Cox then forced a save from Bodgan after being set free by McGeady while Walters thundered a header over from a Hunt cross, with the live-wire winger saving Trapattoni’s bacon late on with a fine clearance off the line with Westwood beaten all ends up.

But, with the Irish team now travelling to their Polish base in Sopot, it’s onwards and upwards as Sunday looms close.